Easy

Chapter 8

Classes were a haze for Elmo the next day. He tried hard to focus on listening, something he’d never had difficulties with before, but his mind was stubborn. It kept replaying the hours he’d spent with Julie, over and over again. The way she smiled. The way her hair fell down her shoulders that first time he’d seen her. The way she looked at him as if she already had him figured out. The way she laughed wholeheartedly. The way she was honest about her personality, no holds barred, no pretenses.

He knew he liked her, that much he’d admitted to himself last night when he was lying in bed, waiting for sleep to claim him. But he wasn’t sure if she liked him the same way. Sure, she’d kissed him back and she looked like she had a lot of fun hanging out with him. But that was it: she looked like she had fun. Countless times, he’d caught himself staring at her and feeling awkward around her, a sure sign that he liked her. But he never caught her staring at him. She was all fun last night. Was that how it was going to be for her? Was he going to be just a fun conquest for her? Someone she could hang out with when she was bored, or at least someone she liked to hang out with, but nothing more than that?

“I know you take your classes seriously and all that, but with the professor gone, you really can’t stay in the classroom hoping the whiteboard will sprout a mouth and continue discussing the lesson to you?”, a voice broke through his thoughts.

Elmo looked around and found himself alone in an empty classroom, except for the person who spoke. He turned and found Hank, his bestfriend, grinning at him, a laughter not far from escaping his lips.

Seeing the surprised look in Elmo’s face, Hank finally let out a bark of laughter. “Did you seriously not realize class was over and you were just sitting there like an idiot?”, he asked, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

Elmo rolled his eyes and shook his head. He got up, quickly placed all of his books, notebook and pens in his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. “I was thinking about something”, he replied.

“You don’t say”, Hank said sarcastically, still grinning.

Elmo started walking away, towards the doors leading to the hallways. “Shut up and let’s get some lunch. I’m hungry”, he called to his friend.

Hank laughed again. “Moe, lunch was two periods ago. School’s done, bro. What’s up with you?”, he asked, falling into step beside his friend as Elmo reached the door and started walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

He stopped short upon hearing Hank’s comment. Had he missed lunch? Where was he then? Oh right, he’d gone to the library to try and finish homework about the classes he’d missed yesterday. Except, as was accustomed to his brain today, it had fizzled out and chose to dwell on Julie instead. He immediately turned in place and accidentally bumped into someone walking towards where he was headed earlier. “Oh sorry”, he mumbled, walking around the person and continuing down the hallway, now headed towards the school exit.

“Hello? Are you ever gonna talk to me, bro?”, Hank called to him, jogging slightly to keep up with him. “Are you high or something?”, he added.

Elmo chuckled. “If I was high, I wouldn’t be here. The dean would kill me”, he answered warily.

“Then what is up with you, man? You didn’t show up for lunch, and now you don’t even remember you skipped it. And you were just in there, staring into space, not even aware that class had finished. I’ve never seen you like this”, Hank commented, a hint of concern lacing his tone.

Elmo shrugged. I haven’t felt this way before, he thought. Out loud, he said, “I’m probably just tired.” They had gotten to the exit and Elmo made his way to his car, waving to his friend behind him. “I’ll catch you later”, he called out, jogging to his parking slot and not waiting for a response.